Book Review: The Devil Riding

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Devil Riding     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Valerie Wilson Wesley
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Ethnic   Private Investigator
Series: Tamara Hayle # 6
Putnam, Jun 2000, $23.95, 208 pp.

Tamara Hayes is a beautiful African-American woman, raising a son by herself. She earns a living as a private detective, traveling to wherever the job requires her to go. This time she is in Atlantic City looking for a teenage runaway belonging to an influential family. As she searches for the eighteen-year old, Tamara wonders why four months passed before someone hired anyone. Tamara is shocked to learn that she has been employed only because someone brutally murdered Gabrielle Desmond’s roommate and six other runaways.

Tamara goes undercover at a coveted party hosted by a person who preys on the depravations of others. He provides victims to his clients to use as they see fit. Tamara is stunned to find her sometimes lover, mercenary Basil DuPre, attending the same party. Basil thinks Tamara is in over her head with this case. However, the tough Tamara intends to see the case through to its’ completion although it means running over her clients, her lover, and a monster that devours innocents.

In THE DEVIL RIDING, highly acclaimed author Valerie Wilson Wesley brings the ambiance and decadence of Atlantic City into the forefront. Although a mystery, the literary prose gives the tale a mainstream feel. Tamara never seems to accept an easy case, but this one appears even more difficult than usual because several different crimes muddy the water. Ms. Wesley never writes a poor novel, but this one is extraordinary as she describes the middle class African-American experience inside a well-designed detective story. Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner